Tempered Gold
by Shadowbca
Summary: All that is light, warmth, and sun: gentle but can just as easily burn. All that is dark, foreboding, and mysterious: harsh but can just as easily turn soft and fade away. The predators shadow combine with the glowing embers. Thus is born something both calming, and passionate, yet dark, and cruel. Though they have all been tempered through the fires who will fall to Tempered Gold?
1. Chapter 1: A new beginning

**_All that is light, warmth, and sun: gentle but can just as easily burn. All that is dark, foreboding, and mysterious: harsh but can just as easily turn soft and fade away. The predators shadow combine with the glowing embers. Thus is born something both calming, passionate, humorous, determined, and suspenseful, dark, twisted, and cruel. It is essentially all we hope to be and all we can be. It is the root of what we are creating: a battle of light and dark, of hope and despair. This is the story of the team that will give their everything to keep that spark of hope and vanquish the twins of darkness as they lay siege upon the growing golden ray of light. Though they have all been tempered through the fires who will reign victorious and who will fall to the tribulations of Tempered Gold?_**

 _ **"**_ _ **All there was, was darkness, and I was a part of it"**_

 **Chapter one: A New Beginning (Hyacinth's Point of view)**

"EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!"

"Out of the way, _faunus_."

"Honestly, I will never understand why Beacon let's _their kind_ in. They are a danger to everyone."

"Oh gosh I think she just flashed her fangs at me! Gavin, HELP!"

I walked past the insulters, holding my head high and ears perked, all the while ignoring their racist comments. I strode through the crowd of new and returning Beacon students, all of them jostling to get onto the airships. I breathed in deeply, my brown and green eyes surveying the crowd before confidently walking up the tarmac to one of the guards.

The guard looked down at me disdainfully, as if I wasn't worth going to such a prestigious school.

"Name?"

"Hyacinth. Hyacinth Crevan." I replied coolly.

"Show me your ID and paperwork."

I rolled my eyes, getting the requested papers and credentials and such out of my bag and handing them to the moody sentry. _I honestly don't understand what these people's problems are,_ I thought. _Oh wait, they have a thing against Faunus and think because we are part animal, we are animals. 50 points to Hyacinth for that beautiful clarification!_

The guard grabbed the sheets of paper, smirking at me before beginning to read. He looked over my papers, and began scowling, more and more the farther he went down, his large paw-like hands crinkling my credentials. I frowned the teeniest bit, noting that my papers had been perfectly smooth before he had yanked them out of my hands. I quickly smoothed out my face, making sure to seem aloof and calm.

He grimaced, and shoved the papers back into my hands, saying, "Get on board before you miss the trip. And try not to let your, uh, _animal_ , instincts to go astray."

I gave him a sugary grin, flashing my teeth (and letting my canine teeth grow the tiniest bit), before saying in the sweetest voice I could muster, "Don't worry, I won't bite anyone unless they, ya know, annoy me."

The sentry's face paled, and he backed away as I put my papers back in my carry-on and flounced up the tarmac, humans scattering and flashing different hues as I made my way into the airship. Once I got inside, I scanned the interior, searching for a place to sit with a good view. I quickly found a good seat and made my way over.

As I got closer, I noticed that there was a girl with blonde hair sitting with her back to me on one of the seats (they were like those round booths in a restaurant that sit 8-10 people, but less curved). I squinted at her. I noticed that the aura around her was dark and standoff-ish, but not like the others. This was more of an, "Everyone leave me alone" sort of vibe, not "Look, I'm racist, stay away fox-human". The colors surrounding her sparked different hues of black, grey, silver, and the occasional red. I moved even closer, noticing the difference between the normal dark hues from other people and hers. Hers sent off several different emotions at once; anger, pride, sadness, longing, loneliness, and one that surprised me a bit- a very, very little, almost-not-there-but-it-is-there, spark of _hope_.

I was admittedly a bit shocked- most people here didn't have hope. At least, not the same as hers. Hers seemed more precious, more hesitant, than the others. Almost like her hope has been crushed over and over before and she's afraid to let it grow, but she can't let it go, for fear of it disappearing forever.

 _Whoa, Hyacinth, back up a bit. You haven't even met her yet and you're already trying to figure her out! At least talk to her first!_ I thought to myself.

I took a deep breath, and finished my walk to her and stood on the other side of the bench. "Is this seat taken?"

She didn't appear to have heard me. Then I noticed that the blonde girl was wearing a pair of steel grey headphones with red accents on it and she appeared to be writing or drawing something in a thick, black, leather-bound journal. I shrugged and sat down on the opposite end of the bench. It was then that the girl looked up.

"Can I help you?"

I was taken aback a bit by the tone of her voice, but that was to be expected from the waves of emotions radiating off her. I cleared my mind and smiled a bit and spoke.

"Nope, I was just wondering if I could sit here. Most of the other people here are a bit hostile to different people" at 'different people' I made quotation marks with my fingers, "and you seemed lonely so I sat here. Is that alright? Oh I'm Hyacinth by the way." I said all of this in a bit of a rush, yet still in a calm and happy way. She blinked at me, once, twice, then said,

"Okay. Seeing how you're into name sharing, I'm Pyrope."

"Nice name. Pyrope, a type of red gem. Pyro, Latin for fire. Seems to fit you." I stated. Okay, so I may be a bit of a nerd. Well, more like a dork. I like to know the meaning of things (names, objects, words, etc.) because I want to know if the name fits.

Pyrope raised one delicate eyebrow, before shaking her head a little. "You are one strange faunus. What are you anyway? Some sort of dog, cat thing?"

"Nope," I cheerily replied. "I'm part fox. Ears, eyes, retractable claws and teeth."

I narrowed my pupils, let my claws and canines grow a bit, and hissed, all within a matter of seconds. The blonde seemed slightly taken aback, before smirking a little.

"Okay, that was almost cool. So, I'ma go back to doing my own thing, you just, I dunno, try not to talk too much, 'kay?"

I nodded, figuring I'd ask Pyrope more questions later. She put her headphones back on, got more comfortable in her seat, and continued writing (or drawing) in her leather-bound journal. I shifted in my seat. I looked around the airship, observing all the students, the last few stragglers hurrying through the entrances. I smiled a little, noticing the amount of Faunus in the airship. So many humans degraded my kind, saying that we didn't deserve citizenship or privileges, like attending Beacon. But hey, look where we are now. Attending prestigious schools, owning successful businesses, and lot's more.

I decided to stop thinking deeply for a while and decided to doodle on my arm (I was feeling too lazy to get my art stuff). I took out a bunch of colorful gel pens from one of my hidden pockets, and absentmindedly drew on my hand, then my wrist, then up my arm, humming a song below my breath. Pyrope was still doing something in her black journal and had her headphones firmly in place. I could faintly hear the music (no one else could 'cause I have awesome hearing). It sounded like a mix of gentle violin, heavy bass guitar, and a steady yet fast drum beat. It sounded, in one word- awesome. I wanted to ask what the music was called, but figured the girl might glare at me again, so I shut my mouth and continued doodling. I wasn't sure how much time had passed since I started drawing, but when I draw I tend to lose track of time.

"What the hell is that?"

I jumped out of my daze, looking up at Pyrope with wide eyes. She was leaning across the table, her attention drawn to my left arm where I had been doodling. I glanced down, then my eyes widened even more.

There, on my hand, wrist, and forearm, was an interesting (and weird) drawing. Starting at the back of my hand, small runes in some ancient language that I didn't understand were twisting and curving around it, each one cutting off after a bit and starting over again a bit away from each other, but faint waves and lines still connected them together. Lower down on my arm appeared to be some floral design in the shape of a girl's profile. I began to make out the facial expression, hair, and clothes. The girl looked pretty sad, not sure why though.

"Who the hell is that?!"

I looked up again at Pyrope again. She kept looking up and down at me and my arm. I shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. I've never seen her before, nor do I know what those runes mean."

Pyrope looked up at me, raising an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with my answer.

"I'm serious!" I shouted. Several people looked over at me, and I blushed before lowering my voice and speaking again. "I really don't know. Sometimes when I doodle I draw things that I've never seen before. Like, I've never seen these runes, except the few on my weapon. And I've never seen the girl either," I looked closer at one of the marks. "Though this one looks an awful lot like… waaaiiiiittt… no way!"

"What?! No what way?!" Pyrope cried, leaning over the table to get a better look at my hand. I looked up at her, a smile tugging at my lips. She glared slightly at me, gesturing me to continue.

"I'm saying no way, because this symbol," I pointed to said object, "looks just like my emblem, and it has my colors in the same places, and I don't usually doodle my symbol." I stood slightly, showing her the side buckle on the right side of my belt along with my hand. On it was my emblem, a single hyacinth with a heart inside it and an arrow sticking in it, exactly like the one on my hand. I sat back down again.

"Wait a sec," Pyrope muttered, reaching over and grabbing my left hand and inspected it. She pointed at one drawing a little to the right of my emblem. "Why is that there?" I looked at the mark. It was a grey skull with a red sword piercing it, with red flames decorating the sword. It was pretty neat to be honest. "I dunno," I responded, not quite understanding why she was being slightly hostile (well on the outside. The colors surrounding her were _much_ more hostile). "I don't know any of the symbols other than mine, and I _really_ have no idea what the runes mean, if you're gonna ask."

Pyrope gave me a ' _Seriously?_ ' look. "No, I was not going to ask that. I'm just curious as to _why_ you have _my emblem_ on _your_ hand."

"Your emblem?" She sighed, and pointed to the bottom-front left corner of her leather vest. There, innocently staring up at me, was the ashen skull that was set aflame by the sword. I stared at it for a few seconds, completely dumbfounded.

"Huh."

"Yeah, _huh_ , now tell me how the hell you knew what my emblem is or I swear I will set you aflame and throw you into the pits of Tartarus. After I let the Grimm chew some of your limbs. And toss you out this very window."

I glanced out the mentioned window, attempting to gauge how far I'd end up falling. Pretty damn far, to be honest. I gulped, fear creeping in and something dark poked at it. _Well that's a pretty easy way to go,_ the thing whispered. _It could be covered as an accident._ I mentally shook my head, attempting to rid myself of the shadowy creature. _I'm not goin' down that way!_ I yelled in my mind. _I just got rid of you, and you will_ not _sneak your way back in that easily_. I banished the deadly thoughts to the tiny chest at the back of my head and locked them in.

I glanced back at Pyrope, her face still hard, the colors surrounding her swirling even more viciously, and her eyes appeared cold and calculating.

"Will there be cookies there?"

"What?" Pyrope asked, taken aback by my question and clearly confused.

"I said, will there be cookies in Tartarus? I'm hungry, and I have a friend who claims that he went to Hell and they had some pretty good pie. I figured if Hell has pie then Tartarus could have cookies. Also getting chewed on and set on fire will really drain my energy. Oh, I have another friend who says he used to live in heaven and they had cake. I wonder if all resting places have desserts? That would be cool…" I rambled, and then went quiet. I stared as the blonde's face changes several times in the space of about 5 seconds. Her face went from shock, to confusion, to amusement, and finally landed on a slight smirk with a twinge of sadness in her eyes.

She let me go, and sat heavily in her seat. "Geez, girl, you are really innocent. I'd hate to see that break." I sat down as well, and we both stared out the airship's window, watching clouds float past and little towns scoot by, lost in our own little worlds for a few moments.

 **End of Chapter One**

Hey guys, I hope you liked chapter one, there's more where that came from. I actually have the first four chapters written but I was gonna wait on posting the rest (I might post chapter 2 sooner) but if you liked it and wanted more just let me know. Also if you have any feedback I would love to hear it. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2: Beacon

**_"I was transcendent but also trapped."_**

 **Chapter 2: Beacon (Pyrope's Point of View)**

I look back over at Hyacinth, frowning slightly. _How had she known what my emblem was when she hadn't ever seen it before today?_ I sigh a bit frustrated, displeased that she seemed to know stuff about me that she shouldn't yet. It made me feel a bit anxious on top of my growing frustration. _Had we met before?_ I wondered to myself. Shaking my head slightly, _No we had not met before._ That would be impossible. This was one of the first times I'd been interacting with another human being for a while. I wanted answers but it seemed she didn't know either. I look back at her, a bit suspicious, and inspected her.

Hyacinth's long chocolatey brown hair with tints of red and gold was tamed by putting it in a simple braid. Her brown and green eyes still stared off out the window. Frowning again I look down. She seemed normal enough if I ignored the fox ears. Though that didn't bother me. I saw vivid red sparks flying between my finger-tips. Quickly I clenched my hands into fists and sat on them abruptly. Looking up I saw Hyacinth watching me. "What are you looking at," I half growled at her.

She seemed to contemplate her answer before speaking, "Nothing. I dunno, what are _you_ looking at?"

Shrugging I look away to avoid eye contact, "Nothing you need to know about." My voice was curt. I go back to looking out the window. All of a sudden my eyes went wide. There was a large castle like building with various sized towers. "Is that Beacon," I ask Hyacinth a bit shocked at its grandeur. She looked out the window and her eyes lit up. Hyacinth scrambled out of her seat and pressed her face to the window. "Yup, that is definitely Beacon. The pictures from the website and pamphlet do it no justice," she said in awe. The brunette turned back to me, pulling her lips back in a grin.

I could feel my hands starting to flame up from excitement and decided it would be best not to stand up for a better look. "Wow it looks amazing, and to think that's our school," I say smiling a bit proudly. Hyacinth nods enthusiastically, too enthralled by the sight before her to properly respond.

After a few minutes longer I feel the airship beginning its decline to land. Finally we land before Beacon. I watch as my fellow passengers file off of the airship, but I stay seated. My hands were still engulfed with flames and there was no way I was going to walk around like that. Hyacinth looks my way as she gets ready to leave, "Aren't you coming?" She seemed to be incredibly excited to have arrived. I nod to let her know I was working on it. She gives me a friendly look, "I'll wait for you then." Feeling a sense of calm wash over me I slowly stand up as my flames went out. I wasn't sure where the sense of calm had come from but it was much appreciated. Then I proceed to follow Hyacinth off the ship and to Beacon. Luckily for me, she knew where she was going. Or so I had thought. Looking around I noticed we had been walking in giant circles the whole time.

"Do you even know where we are going," I ask her a bit skeptical.

"Um… No. Not really."

I stare at her for the longest time, "Just great. You got us lost and now we will be late. I hate being late." Hyacinth rolls her eyes, "I studied the map of the school 7 times last night. It is hopelessly confusing, because I can't read maps well, especially not the one I was given. The administrator must have given me the wrong map. Probably 'cause I'm a faunus." At this she made an ugly grimace, wrinkling her nose and furrowing her eyebrows, a sad frown on her face. "I honestly don't know why people hate my kind so much. Well, anyway, I figured you knew where you were going so I followed you. You probably got a decent map, right? Also we have twenty minutes until then. So come on, out with the map."

I put my hand on my head in a sheepish manner, "Well… ummm you see I wasn't given a map. I'm just as clueless as you are right about now." Hyacinth stared at me this time for a bit, a blank mask covering her face.

"The administrators hate us, don't they?" the Faunus said in a weary tone, more stating than asking. "I see a map over there, across the path. Let's go check it out, yeah?"

I nod and head off to look at the map, Hyacinth in pursuit. Once there I stare at it for a good while. It just looked like a bunch of lines to me. I didn't understand it in the slightest. What I needed was landmarks. That was how I traveled. Sighing I look over at Hyacinth, frustrated, "I can't read maps at all."

Hyacinth glanced over the map, eyes darting this way and that, until she gave a small nod of her head and turned back to me. "See that building over there, right behind us? That is the library, memorize it. Remember that it looks like a cathedral, but 3 times bigger and has a more gothic style than modern." I glanced over to where she was pointing, taking note of each of the details that stood out the most. The soaring arches, the curling decals, and sharp edges. I also noticed that it had a bell in the tallest tower. I turned back to Hyacinth, slightly confused.

"Did you memorize it?" she asks, and I nod in response. She gave a nod as well, before pointing to a spot on the map. "The library is facing us, which means that it is facing west, which means we are too far east of the auditorium, which is here," at this she pointed to a large block on the map, "inside one of the main buildings. We just need to walk west, and then slightly north. I'll take a picture of it for future reference." Hyacinth slipped her hand into her skirt (How the hell did she do that? There aren't any pockets on the thing, no seams, nothing!) and pulled out a very expensive/high-tech-looking phone and snatched several pictures of the map. She then grabbed my wrist and started dragging me to (hopefully) the direction of the auditorium.

I yank my wrist free from her grasp and walk slightly ahead of her by a pace or two. I glance back at her with a glare, "Do not touch me." Hyacinth shrank back a bit at my glare, her ears pressed against her head. My entire demeanor had become hostile as the grasp had reminded me of my past. Next thing I knew I had ran right into something and was sprawled on the ground. Still on edge I jump up with my red and black _haladie_ raised, "The fuck just happened?!" I look down to see a lanky blond haired male laying on the ground. Hyacinth rushed over and was about to put her hand on my shoulder before she stopped and withdrew it. "Are you ok?" she asked me, ears slightly down, before looking down and gasping. "Oh my gosh, are _you_ ok?!" Hyacinth crouched down and helped the blond stand up. The male seems to be flustered but fine. He was accompanied by a short haired female.

I take a step back, overwhelmed by the amount of people in the same area. I was nowhere used to this many people I didn't know. Having lived by myself with only my trainer to talk to for many years. I growl slightly and watch as blood red flames engulfed me. "Well this is just fucking great," I say sarcastically. No one was supposed to see my semblance, due to me still not having control over it most of the time. The three of them had very different expressions from each other.

The boy (because he is definitely not a man yet) had the reaction I expected: fear, caution, and quiet awe. The other two, though, I could have never predicted. The short female's eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree, her mouth hanging open and her body language screamed awe and admiration. Hyacinth reacted in a different way. She had a thoughtful look on her face, her head cocked to one side and her ears perked forward. She studied me and my flames, before giving me a gentle and friendly smile.

I instantly relaxed, not a lot, but enough to let the flames gradually die. The other two unknown students calmed as well, and Hyacinth gave a relieved smile. "Well, that was interesting. Is everyone alright now?" We all nodded or gave verbal affirmations. "Good. Now," The brunette turned to the two newcomers. "I'm going to assume that you two are new students as well, and are lost?" They nodded. "Ok, well we are heading to the auditorium as well. Want to join us?"

"Yeah let's go. My name is Ruby Rose and the awkward boy is Jaune Arc," the female replies to Hyacinth.

Hyacinth smiles at them happily, "I'm Hyacinth Crevan and the blonde is Pyrope…" She looks over at me questionally. I remembered that I had not given her my last name on the airship earlier.

"Akumi-Akamori," I say supplying my last name. Looking at the three of them, "Could you guys maybe not mention the whole fire thing to anyone?"

Ruby looks over at me, "But it was _sooo_ cool! It didn't even harm you one bit! And-" Hyacinth gives a slight look and Ruby stops mid-sentence, "Okay. I won't say anything." Her expression seemed a bit dejected. I look over at Jaune and await his answer.

Jaune looks at me almost a tad hesitant, "Okay… just… don't shoot fire at me. P-please."

I sigh and walk off to the assembly, the others already walking excitedly in the direction of the auditorium. We only had 10 minutes until it started, so we needed to hurry. Ruby practically runs off shouting something about finding her sister, Jaune following her. I just walked at my normal speed, knowing I'd make it perfectly on time at my pace. Just as I had suspected, I entered the auditorium right as it began.

Who I assumed to be Professor Ozpin began to speak, "I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge- -to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose-direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

I look at him for a little bit. I was surprised at how short the speech seemed to be and it appeared I wasn't the only one who felt off about it. Shrugging the feeling away, I look over to Glynda Goodwitch as she speaks, "You will go sleep in the ballroom tonight and initiation will begin tomorrow." People begin to file out of the auditorium to prepare for the night.

I follow suit and change into my pajamas. Looking around the sleeping area in the ballroom, I find a nice secluded spot in the corner. Settling down I watched as everyone claimed their spots. It looked like Hyacinth was attempting to socialize with people. I lay down and roll over so that I faced the wall. Tomorrow was initiation and there was no way I was going to mess that up by not having rested. Closing my eyes I slowly drifted to sleep, ignoring the sounds of people gossiping.

 **End of Chapter 2**

Hey guys, I hope you liked the story so far. If you have any feed back for me I would love to hear it. Anyways, there are new chapters coming soon. I intend for this to be a long running series and I hope to post regularly, probably multiple times a week for the first couple weeks just to get it off the ground then after that once per week.


	3. Chapter 3: Sunrise

_**"**_ _ **I was neither alive nor dead."**_

 **Chapter 3: Sunrise (Hyacinth's Point of View)**

 _Weightless._

 _That's how I felt when I came to._

 _I opened my eyes, blinking several times before looking around where I was. It looked like I was in space, floating in a never-ending sea of stars. I looked ahead of me and saw the shape of a person. I couldn't see them very well, but it appeared like their back was turned to me. I tried to move forward, but I felt some sort of pressure keeping me in place. I tried calling out to the them, but my throat closed in on me, making it hard to even breathe, if I could even breathe in outer space._

 _The person ahead of me tensed, their shoulders rising up a bit. Their head, turned to look over their shoulder. The pressure increased, beginning to hurt. My throat closed up even more._

 _"_ _You shouldn't be here…"_

My eyes shot open and I gasped, sucking in the deliciously cool air. I closed my eyes again, trying to steady my breathing and my heart. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and looked around, trying to figure out where I was.

Oh, right. I was at Beacon in the ballroom. Most of the new students were up and about, chattering with their old and new friends as they stretched and put away their belongings. I eased myself up, rubbing my eyes and wincing. Geez, could these people get any _louder_?

I got up, waved at a few people I had talked to the previous night, packed my stuff back into my carry-on and pulled out my fresh set of clothes and other morning things. I headed to one of the bathrooms outside of the ballroom and walked in. There were three human girls in there, already dressed, and they immediately hushed, staring at me as I walked in. I rolled my eyes and headed into one of the stalls to change. I came out wearing my combat clothes: my purple turtleneck with the shoulders cut out and going down two third's of my upper arm; electric blue leggings with my purple battle skirt and electric blue, high-low overskirt on top; and finally my knee-high electric blue and purple wedge boots. I figured I would put my shooting gloves on later.

"Where did you get that outfit, a garage sale?"

I glanced over at the girl who spoke. She was on the shorter side, maybe 5'3", with shoulder length, straight blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Her outfit, was entirely pink- and no, not just any pink- _neon pink_ , with light neon blue accents. It hurt my eyes just to look at her. Even the air around her was a bright, but somehow threatening, pink. Her cronies were dressed similarly.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. So these were going to be the "popular" mean girls of the school, huh?

"Actually, I made this outfit myself, using highly expensive, durable, yet stretchy and flowy, fabric that has threads of metal sewn in, to make it harder to injure me. Also, the boots were a bit pricy, but well worth the cost due to the retractable spikes on the bottom of them." Honestly, I was completely lying about the last part, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them right? Actually it might….. oh well.

The two girls in the back looked slightly intimidated and awed by the answer, but the leader scoffed. "Really, now? How is a faunus supposed to be able to afford stuff like that?"

I shrugged. "It helps when your parents own a successful company and you learn how to sew at the age of six."

The blonde now looked pissed.

"Just stay out of my way, bitch, got it?"

"Yeesh, yeah, no can-do. See the fox ears? Yeah, not a bitch. Clearly you need your eyesight checked, 'kay? See you hopefully never." I walked out of the restroom, leaving behind a fuming blonde and a couple of scared girls.

I strolled back into the ballroom to grab my stuff. As I picked up my bag, I noticed that the girl from the airship, _what was her name again? Oh right, Pyrope!_ , was still zonked out on the farthest side of the ballroom. It was about 8 in the morning, and breakfast was going to end at around 8:30, so I figured I might as well give Pyrope a wake-up call. I walked over to her and nudged her side lightly with my foot. She didn't even stir. I frowned. Crouching down next to her, I shook her shoulder and said quietly, "Hey, Py, you gotta get up. Breakfast will be over soon."

She groaned and swatted at my hands. I shook her shoulder a little harder. "Pyrope, get your butt out of bed, it's like eight in the morning."

"Nooooo…" Pyrope groaned and rolled over, her back facing me. I sat back on my heels, trying to think of a way to get her up. Then my ears perked up and I sniffed the air. Hmmmmmmm…

"Hey Pyyyyyroooppeeee… There's bacon and pancakessssss."

"Pancakes?!" Pyrope shot up out of bed, but before she could fully sit up our heads collided and we both fell back, clutching our heads and groaning.

"Ah shit, that _hurts_!" Pyrope sat up first, me following soon afterwards. She rubbed her head one last time before blinking her sleep-ridden eyes at me. "Oh, it's you. What the heck are you doing here, waking me up?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, it's nice to see you again, too. C'mon, let's go get some pancakes before they are all gone!"

Pyrope groaned yet again before rolling out of her sleeping bag and sluggishly standing up. I stood as well and bounced on my heels as she began to sluggishly gather her things and trudged to the bathroom. I waited by one of the sinks and applied a quick swipe of mascara to my eyelashes as she got dressed. I slipped the bottle into one of my many secret pockets as Pyrope stepped out of the stall.

She was garbed in an outfit similar to yesterday's: a crimson shirt that had rips on the sleeves and hem; a black leather vest; red, ripped leather skirt with a black and charcoal grey battle skirt under it; the same knee-high, black combat boots that had spikes on the bottom of them.

Pyrope finished clipping on her slanted belt as she stepped out of the stall. She glanced up slightly, furrowing her eyebrows as I slipped my hand into my pocket. The blonde raised an eyebrow at me before unclipping a pocket from her vest and pulling out her finger-less black leather half-gloves, slipping them on as she stepped up to one of the sinks.

I pulled my mascara out again. "One of my many secret and invisible pockets. Very handy, I hardly ever have to use a purse." I said, figuring she wanted an explanation for my hand's disappearing trick.

Pyrope simply nodded her head, reaching into her bag and fishing out a small makeup bag. She took out some black eyeliner and mascara and began applying them. The girl applied a decent amount of mascara before starting on the eyeliner.

"Why are you using so much eyeliner?"

Pyrope rolls her eyes, "Do you want the whole list or are you just asking a rhetorical question?"

"The whole list, my friend." I smiled.

Pyrope sighed, as if hoping it had been a rhetorical question, but answered nonetheless. "One, it helps protect my eyes from the sun. Two, it makes me look badass. Three, it makes people ask questions and I enjoy messing with people. Four, why not? Lastly and most importantly, it helps to disguise my eyes and identity."

I nodded. Those were viable reasons, and I was pretty sure she wasn't messing with me. At least, I hope she wasn't…

Pyrope finished putting on her makeup and put her stuff away. I perked up and asked, "So you ready for the heavenly goodness called pancakes and bacon? I'm not sure how good they are here but they can't be too bad, right? I mean, the school is obviously receiving a lot of money due to taxes, tuition, donations, fundraisers…" and I was off, chattering on about what the food might be like here, filling in the silence so the walk to the cafeteria wouldn't be awkward. Pyrope walked next to me silently.

We entered the large cafeteria, most of the tables deserted. Pyrope hurried over to the short line and began serving up our breakfasts. I grabbed a fuji apple, a stack of 3 pancakes, 4 pieces of bacon, 2 sausages, a bowl of strawberries, some scrambled eggs, and a tall glass of milk. Pyrope, on the other hand, only took 2 pancakes and a granny smith apple. I gave her a look and gestured with my head to the large refrigerator-like things that contained some of the beverages. She rolled her eyes but walked over to them. She opened one of the doors and grabbed the first thing she saw- a water bottle- plunked it on her tray, and gave me a sassy smile. I rolled my eyes and followed her to one of the more solitary tables. She sat with her back to the wall, near the corner, and I took up residence across from her. I figured she wouldn't take kindly to me sitting next to her.

We began eating, me eating quickly but politely, her going at a slower pace. I finished my pancakes and was halfway through my eggs when I felt a prickly sensation on the back of my neck.

"Hey-!"

I threw my arm up to the left and caught the orange that was tossed to me. I looked at it before throwing it back over my shoulder. I smirked when I heard a satisfying _thunk_ and a loud "OW" from across the room. I looked up at Pyrope to see her mouth still half open from her unfinished warning. She glanced between me and the dude who threw the orange. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Animal instincts, remember?" Pyrope nodded, regaining her composure. "How were you able to throw it back without looking?" I shrugged again. "Animal reflexes, training, a 19 out of 20 hit rate, and karma. Plus, his aim was off and his throw sloppy, completely amauter. I'm willing to bet that you could have caught it just as easily."

"HEY!"

Pyrope and I turned around. A dude with brown hair and grey armour was walking swiftly to us, two of his buddies following behind. I guessed that was the guy who tried to throw an orange at me.

"The hell do you think you're doing here, faunus? Shouldn't you be sniffing your butt or something?"

Pretty sure this is the dude who threw an orange at me.

I turned my head to face Pyrope and said, "Don't you know that foxes don't sniff their own butts, let alone other people's butts? Sheesh!" I turned to face guy again. "Are you the one that threw a fruity projectile at me?"

" _Yes_ , though you obviously didn't get the message to leave, bitch." he sneered at me.

Hey, I was right!

I sighed, "When will people learn that I am not a female dog? Like seriously, the ears are obviously a big difference." I faced the blonde yet again and whispered, "So, what should we do about Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dum, and Tweedle-Dumber?" Pyrope thought for a few seconds before replying, "Well that depends on the goal you want to achieve by confronting them? I suggest giving them a scare because I hate them, but that could confirm their thoughts of you being just an animal. So maybe it's in your best interests not to confront them. But… I would enjoy it myself."

I grinned. "Well, if you wanna threaten the Three Crap-ateers, be my guest." Pyrope grinned a slightly sinister smile back at me. _Hey, that's the first time I saw her smile, I think_.

Pyrope turns towards the the three guys and seems to be observing them for a few moments. "Did you know that humans are animals too? So you are an animal, just like her. Humans are mammals and all mammals are animals. Like animals you breathe air, require nutrients from food, reproduce, and even rid yourself of waste from your body by defecating." The three boys stare at her with a slightly confused look on their faces and share a look with each other. Pyrope grins sinisterly again and begins twirling one of her red and black, flame like, knives in her hand. Her voice took on a cold tone. "You describe animals as nothing but monsters, beasts, things that follow instincts and have no feelings. Well here's a news flash for you. You're no better than these so called "animals" that you have described. You care nothing for the feelings of the faunus in this world that are human too. They work just as hard as you but instead you treat them with the same harshness and cruelty that you said they were. Just now you acted on an instinct to throw that orange."

The three of them took on a nervous composure and shifted on their feet. They watched Pyrope's blade twirl faster as she took a step towards them with an angry glint in her eyes. "You want to know how an animal really behaves? I'd be happy to show you myself." Pyrope's hand that held the knife had sparks that flew between her finger-tips, controlled but threatening. The boys take a startled step back and glance between each other as if debating what the hell was happening. Pyrope takes one more step towards them so she was only inches from them. "If you ever call another faunus at this school, or anywhere else, anything like that again, or say they're just animals/beasts, or bully them, you will have to face a monster worse than what you make them out to be. You'll have to deal with me and I don't have much patience. If anything, I'm more of an animal than any faunus you've seen. So watch yourselves or the animal will hunt you in the night." With that, Pyrope makes a low growling noise and the boys share a terrified look before making a run for it. She replaces her knife before turning back to me with a blank expression, "They won't be bothering you again, and if they do I'll know about it, and they'll get taught another lesson."

I stared at Pyrope, my jaw wide open. "You are so badass." She shrugged and sat back down. "I'm not badass. I just have anger problems and don't get along with people." She then looked up at me and gave me a slight glare. "Don't expect me to do that again."

I grinned, "Nah, I don't think they will be back, so you don't have to if you don't want to. But, no seriously, you are really cool. Like, you can come up with that threat right off the bat, and you can do cool flippy-knife-trick-thingys and all that. Plus, the sparks looked pretty threatening. Ooooooooh, I bet you could just shock people if they get annoying and- OW!"

Pyrope pulled her hand back from where she shocked me on the arm, smirking slightly. I rubbed my arm. "Yeah, okay. I was getting annoying, huh?" Pyrope rolled her eyes. I grinned. I took my last two pieces of bacon from my plate and put them on her plate. She raised one perfectly arched eyebrow at me.

"You need more protein," I state, leaving no room for argument. "You didn't grab much. We are not leaving this table until you eat it." Pyrope gave me another look, which I returned. Yay sassy me! Pyrope sighed and shoveled them in, her face briefly forming a look of shock (like the good kind of shock, not like "ack someone just threw a thing at me") before quickly settling back into a neutral expression. I smiled in triumph- she glared. Pyrope quickly wiped her mouth and hands before standing and grabbing her tray.

"Let's get going, yeah?" I nodded, picking up my tray and things as well. We dumped our stuff off at the tray-trash-area-thingy. As we headed out, I told Pyrope, "You are now one of the few people who can now say that they got to eat my bacon." She turned to me, questioning. "I don't like to share my bacon, so this is most likely going to be a one time thing, okay?"

The blonde rolled her eyes, yet again. _She needs to tone down the sass_. "You need to turn down your sass." Pyrope gave me a sassy look. I made an even sassier one. We ended up walking down the corridors to the auditorium making sassy and ridiculous faces at each other, laughing and imitating each other and other people in exaggerated fashions. I laughed loudly at one face she made of some queen she read about in a book. Pyrope's eyes were half-lidded and droopy, while she made the rest of her sag, her mouth half-open and turned down. I snorted, and a few seconds later she chuckled as well. We stumbled down one hall and passed a group of older students. They looked at us strangely, whispering and pointing. We looked at each other, then them, then back to each other-

And we busted out in even louder guffaws, and we ran down the hall, our laughter echoing off the high arches. We turned a corner and stopped to take a breather. I leaned against one wall, sliding down it, gasping for breath and giggling quietly. Pyrope opted to lean over slightly, her hands on her knees, chuckling slightly under her breath. "Damn, I haven't laughed like that in years."

I puffed out a breath of air. "Ah, don't worry. I have a feeling we'll be laughing a lot here."

Pyrope snorted. "Yeah, I don't know about that." I gave her a questioning look. "Hyacinth, this school is serious. We are being trained to kill dangerous and lethal creatures, there isn't time for fun. We have to work nearly 24/7, and we are most likely going to die on the field."

I sighed, the mood of the conversation darkening. "I know," I started. "I know I'm probably going to die at an early age, and I know that there isn't much time for extra activities. Hunters and Huntresses don't have that luxury." I sighed deeply before continuing seriously. "But if we don't have fun and let the light in, then the Grimm will have already won. I'm not letting the good emotions leave. I won't let them be destroyed by fear and hate and darkness. That's one of the reasons I am here. To shine light in the darkness and drive away fear."

I looked up at Pyrope, my eyes steely. "If the Grimm and evildoers are going to try to take away happiness and love, they will have hell to pay for. I'm not going down without a battle, and I sure as hell will be the one standing on top."

Pyrope looked at me for a little while before giving me a half smile, filled with a strange sense of sadness. Abruptly she ruffles my hair slightly, "I'm sure you'll give it your all." She stared off into the distance as if lost in the past and spoke gently. "If only things were that easy. Sadly this world is more complicated than that. You'll soon see that light isn't enough. Sure it may help out but in the end it takes more. Of what? Well you'll just have to answer that for yourself when you figure it out. It's different for each person." She sighs and lowers her head, her eyes bearing the dark truths of the world, "Trust me on this. I've seen more than you have in my travels. I'd like to preserve that innocence in you but unfortunately I know that to be impossible. But I promise to do my best to help. It's not much of a reassurance, I know, but sometimes this is all we've got. You're my first friend so I'll die before letting this world corrupt you in the way it has me."

I smiled up at Pyrope. "I'm glad we're friends. I know that we all are on a difficult road, but I still think we can beat the evil," then I pouted slightly. "I'm not that innocent! I have a dark side…"

Pyrope looked at me amusingly, "Let me see your dark side face."

I furrowed my eyebrows slightly and attempted to sneer

"Awwwwww…" Pyrope cooed. I glared at her. "What? You're dark side face is adorable! You look like a bewildered bunny!"

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Whelp, let's get going to the auditorium, yeah? I think the other students will be starting their initiation thingy soon."

We walked to the auditorium and were just in time to see the start of the initiation. We watched in awe as our fellow students were shot into the air, teamed up, and got their relic, all the while fending off the Grimm. It was wicked. An hour or so later, it finally ended. We (the students not in the first round of initiation) were told to get up and file out of the auditorium. We followed the teachers outside and to the opposite side of the school from where the first initiation took place.

Whoo-hoooo let's hope I don't die during this!

 **End of Chapter 3**

Hi guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I will try to upload on a weekly basis, I was thinking Mondays and possibly Fridays as well if I had enough time that week. Anyways, tell me what you thought, thanks!


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